SC: In-person summons to govt officer only in exceptional cases
Times of India | 26 April 2024
KOLKATA: Supreme Court, striking down a Calcutta High Court order, has said a govt officer should be summoned to appear in court only in exceptional cases, that too after first arranging a hearing through video-conference, and after the court records why a personal appearance is necessary.
State govt had challenged in Supreme Court a Calcutta HC order on March 13, in which a division bench had ordered the South Dinajpur SP to personally appear before it on March 14 to explain certain omissions in a report filed by him in a narcotics and excise case.
The distance from Balurghat (headquarters of South Dinajpur) to Kolkata is 434.5km.
On Monday (Apr 22), the SC bench - of justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta - said the first appearance of an SP in court had to be through video-conferencing, if the HC deemed it necessary to summon him. The bench then quashed the part of the HC's order seeking his personal appearance, saying the reasons cited by the HC for such an appearance "cannot be said to be exceptional and rare".
The SC bench also reiterated an earlier judgment, in which it had laid down a standard operating procedure for HCs. Then, the SC had said, "We feel it is time to reiterate that public officers should not be called to court unnecessarily. The dignity and majesty of the court is not enhanced when an officer is called to court. Respect to the court has to be commanded and not demanded and the same is not enhanced by calling the public officers. The presence of public officer comes at the cost of other official engagement demanding their attention."
On March 13, a Calcutta High Court division bench of justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi, hearing an anticipatory bail plea in connection with an FIR lodged in Hili PS relating to illegal narcotics possession, had noticed from case records that while a co-accused was on bail, the state was opposing the bail of another co-accused, who was on a similar legal footing.
The high court was verbally told that the state govt had appealed against the earlier bail, but the SP's report in court - which was undated - did not refer to it. Highlighting this apparent dichotomy, the HC had said: "Liberty of a citizen is involved. Police case relates to narcotics. Gravity of the matter and the conduct of the state cannot be over-emphasized."
The HC then asked the SP to personally appear in court the next day and explain the state's duality in the same case.